Film turnabout system

ABSTRACT

A film turnabout system for conveying X-ray or other film through a processing tank which incorporates a rack assembly having pairs of rollers and discretely positioned film guides which cooperate to drive the film through the processing tank at constant speed without scratching the surface of the film. The device further includes a bottom positioned soft roller which functions at increased rotative speed to direct the film across the bottom of the rack assembly in a minimum of required width and then upwardly through the tank without scratching or other injury.

United States Patent Hopeetal; I

- 1 51 Oct, "31, 1972 22 Filed:

21 Appl. No.; 97,808

541 F1LM TURNABOUT SYSTEM [72] Inventors: Henry F. Hope, 195 Welsh Road, l-luntingdon Valley, Pa. 19006; Stephen E Hope, 2321 Wyandotte Road, Willow Grove, Pa. 19090 Dec. 14, 1970 ['51] 1m. 0...; ..B65h 5/06. 58 FieldotSearchm' ..27l/51,52,53,80;95/96, ,95/97,100,94

[56] f References Cited UNI'I'EDSTATES PATENTS 1,816,290 7/1931 'Klimis ..271/s1x 3,180,481 4/1965 Brause ..27l/51UX 3,435,749 4/1969 Cauwe etal.. ..95/94R 2,977,868- 4/1961 Dutch ..95/94R of required width and then upwardly through the tank without scratching or other injury.

3Claims,4DrawingFigures PATENTED 0m 3 1 1912 FIG. 4

INVENTORS.

HENRY F HOPE STEPHEN F. HOPE FILM TURNABOUT SYSTEM I 1 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the field of photographic developing equipment, and more particularly, is directed to a film tumabout system for use with automatic film developing equipment.

The use of small, self-contained, automatic film processing equipment has become increasingly more popular for use in hospitals and particularly in the offices of doctors and dentists wherein the necessary extensive floor space and large capital expenditures for darkroom installations are not readily available. The present equipment includes a completely self-contained unit which requires a minimum of floor space. The unit is equipped with all required electrical and plumbing connections, controls and necessary equipment to automatically develop film such as x-ray film in a minimum period of time, with a minimum expenditure in equipment costs. The invention is applicable to all automatic photographic processors'such as x-ray, graphic arts, commercial film, etc. The device is useful in the guiding of film anywherewhere economy of space and simplicity of construction are desired.

Self-contained, automatic film processing equipment of the type contemplated for use with the instant invention usually. includes a plurality of adjacent processing tanks, each of which is equipped with a rack assembly having a plurality of pairs of driving and driven rollers. The rollers contact the film surface to drive the exposed x-ray or other film through various processing tanks which contain the required developers, fixers and washes to positively and automatically develop exposed 'X-ray or other film in accordance with well-known .face.

The film tumabout system of the present invention directs exposed x-ray or other film downwardly into a processing tank for treatment within the tank. The system incorporates rack assembly means to turn the film through substantially 180 at the bottom of the associated process tank and then to lead the film upa train at a greater rotative speed than the other pairs of troduce the film into the next adjacent tank. Because of r the nature of the operation, a substantially 180 bend in the film is imposed at the bottom'of each of the film rack assemblies. Inasmuch as it is of utmost importance that the photographically exposed flat surface of the film travel only between the rollers and not contact any other portions of the mechanical equipment, it has been necessary in the past to construct the rack of relatively wide configuration to thereby execute a gradual SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to automatic x-ray or other film processing equipment, and more particularly, is directed to a novel film tumabout system for moving the exposed film through the various rollers in the system. The soft roller receives the leading edge of the film and the increased rotative speed facilitates thetuming of the film at the bottom of the tank. The increased rotative speed of the soft roller functions to throw the film upwardly, making up for the difference between the linear speed of the body of the film as propelled by the prior rollers and the momentary loss of that speed in the leading edge as it is guided upwardly. The soft roller cooperates with a fixed film guide to direct the film to the next higher cooperating pair of transport rollers in a manner to prevent the flat surfaces of the film from touching any fixed portion of the rack. The film thus travels only through the rollers of the rack assembly and is never exposed to fixed equipment which may scratch or otherwise damage the film surface. By providing the bottom soft roller which operates at increased rotative speed, we have found it possible to minimize the width of the rack so that exposed x-ray or other film may be turned through substantially 180 with a minimum space requirement.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved film tumabout system of the type set forth.

IT is another object of the present invention to provide a novel film tumabout system which includes a plurality of pairs of cooperating rollers arranged upona rack in a manner to direct exposed x-ray or other film downwardly through a processing tank, through a sub stantially 180 bend and then upwardly to exit from the tank.

lt is'another object of the present invention to provide a novel film tumabout system which includes a plurality of film directing rollers, all of the rollers operating at the same rotative speed with the exception of one'which functions at an increased rotative speed.

it is another object of the present invention to provide a novel film tumabout system for directing x-ray or other film through a processing tank, the system including a plurality of rollers directing the film downwardly and then upwardly through the tank and also includes means to turn the'film at the bottom in a minimum space requirement.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel film tumabout system which includes a plurality of cooperating pairs of rollers directing the film downwardly through a processing tank and upwardly to exit the tank, the system further including a bottom positioned soft roller operating at increased rotative speed to turn the film through substantially 180 in a minimum width requirement.

It is a further object of the present invention to prooperation.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be had by referring to the following description and claims of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial, perspective view of the bottom portion of a film. tumabout system, with the roller driving gears exploded.

FIG. 2 is a partial, side elevational view of the bottom of the film tumabout system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial, side elevational view, similar to FIG. 2, showing the opposite side of the turnabout system.

FIG. 4 is a partial, enlarged, cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. The various positions of the leading portion of the film are shown in phantom lines to indicate the location of the leading edge of the film as it travels through the bend at the bottom of the rack assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Although specific terms are used in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of our invention selected for illustration in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention. v

Referring now to the drawings, we show in FIG. 1, the bottom portion of the film transport system which includes a film transport rack assembly 10. The rack assembly supports a plurality of pairs of film transport rollers 12, I4, l6, l8 and 20, 22 which are rotatively carried between the right and left side plates 24, 26 for film transporting purposes. As best seen in FIG. 4, the film 28 travels downwardly in a substantially vertical path at the rear of the transport rack assembly 10 to the nip of the bottom pair of rear rollers 20, 22. The film tumabout includes the cooperating pair of rollers l6, l8 and guides 58, 62 and the soft turnabout roller 30 which act to turn the film upwardly at the bottom of the rack assembly. The leading edge 60 of the film 28 is directed to the nip of the forward pair of rollers 12, 14 and then upwardly throughother pairs of rollers (not shown) for exit at the top of the film transport rack assembly. The bottom turnaround is accomplished without scratching or otherwise damaging the film surfaces ashereinafter more fully set forth The filmtransport rollers 12, l4, l6, 18, 20, 22 and the soft turnaround roller 30 rotate about the respec -rack assembly side plates 24, 26 for rotation within the transport rack assembly in well known manner. The

shafts 36, 40 extend through the side plate 24 and the shafts 36, 44 extend through the side plate 26 to provideextension pieces for attachment of the various driving gears for operation of the mechanism.

The power gear 46 rotates about its side plate journalled shaft 48 and receives its power from above through the power driven gear train (not shown) in conventional manner. As best seen in FIG. 3, the power gear 46 meshes with the rear roller gear 50 and the large roller gear 52 which pin or otherwise affix to the respective shafts 40, 36 to simultaneously rotate the shaft affixed rear roller 20 and the large roller 16. The rear roller 20 in turn drives'the rear driven roller 22 through direct rotative contact and the large roller 16 drives its cooperating driven roller 18 through cirect contact for film transporting purposes. The respective driving rollers 20, 16 are fabricated of hard phenolic material for driving purposes and the cooperating driven rollers 22, 18 are fabricated of soft foam rubber in a manner to urge the film forwardly through the rack assembly without scratching or otherwise damaging the sensitized film surface. It will be observed that the photosensitive surface 68 of the film 28 contacts the foam rubber rollers throughout the path of travel. Thus, the rotative urging of the power gear 46 simultaneously drives the cooperating pairs of rollers 20, 22 and l6, 18. Additional pairs of rollers, for example the rollers 12, 14 may be simultaneously driven in conventional manner by taking the power from the power gear 46 through idlers or otherwise as may be required.

All gears used in the rack assembly 10 are milled or otherwise formed to the same pitch, preferably sixteen pitch, and all small roller shaft affixed gears have the same number of teeth, preferably 16 teeth. Accordingly, all small rollers will rotate at the same rotative speed. The large roller gear 52 is preferably formed with 30 teeth to increase the rotative speed of the soft roller 30. The large roller shaft 36 extends through the side plate 26 and carries the shaft affixed large gear 54 which preferably is formed with 36 teeth. The large roller gear 54 meshes with the turnaround roller gear 56 to thereby rotate the turnaround roller 30 through power delivered by the power gear 46 across the large roller shaft 36.

The turnaround roller gear 56 affixes to the turnaround roller shaft 44 and rotates the turnaround roller 30 simultaneously with the operation of the other rollers. The gear 56 is fabricated with 16 teeth, the same as the other small roller gears 46, 50. It will be noted that the large roller 16 receives its rotative energy through the large roller gear 52 which has 30 teeth. The shaft 36 in turn drives the oppositely positioned large gear 54 which is fabricated with 36 teeth. The 16 tooth turnaround roller gear 56 is thereby urged into a rotative speed that is greater than any of the rollers in the system. Of course, if it is found desirable to increase the rotative speed of the turnaround roller 30 to an even greater extent, this may be done by skilled workers by adjusting gear ratios in well-known manner.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a generally horizontally disposed turning vane 58 positions beneath the rear rollers 20, 22 and transversely extends across the rack assembly 10 for film directing purposes. The turning vane 58 serves to direct the leading edge 60 of the film 28 into a generally horizontal direction to the nip of the corresponding lowest pair of rollers 16, 18. Similarly, the turning vane 62 positions generally vertically within the rack assembly 10 and transversely extends between the side plates 24, 26 for film directing purposes. The turning vane 62 positions generally forwardly of the large roller 16and above the turnaround roller 30 to thereby direct the leading edge 60 of the film 28 to the nip of the cooperating pair of upper rollers 12, 14. The film 28 -,travels downwardly in a generally vertical path near the rear 64 of the rack assembly 10 and then turns through 180 about the lowest pair of cooperating rollers l6, 18. The roller 16 is fabricated to an increased diameter to facilitate the bending operation and to remove any tendency of the film to crease, buckle or otherwise permanently deform during the bending operation. The filin 28 is then directed generally upwardly in a vertical'path near the front 66 of the rack assembly 10 for the exit at the top after treatment within the associated processing tank (not shown). As indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 4, the rear rollers 20, 22, the bottom pairof rollers l6, l8 and the upper rollers l2, 14in cooperation with the turning vanes 58,62 and the soft turnaround roller 30 precisely position the film 28 at all times during the bottom turn to absolutely prevent scraping, rubbing or scratching of the film photosensitive surface 68 in all positions assumed during the bending operation. The unsensitized film surface 70 contacts the hard phenolic rollers 20, 16 and 12 which cooperate to urge the film 28 through the system without damage. As previously noted, the turnaround roller 30 rotates at a greater speed to facilitate the film turning procedure.

As best observed in FIG. 4, the leading edge 60 of the film 28 travels generally horizontally as directedby the bottom guide 58. After passing the lower rollers l6, 18, the film leading edge 60 abuts the periphery of the turnaround roller 30 above the center line of the turnaround roller shaft 44. As hereinbefore set forth, the

roller 30 is geared to rotate faster than any of the other rollers in the system and thus serves to push the leading edge 60 upwardly. This impetus urges the film 28 to bend upwardly about the large roller 16 to complete the required 180 turn. The leading edge 28 then engages the vertically disposed turning vane 62 and as indicated in phantom lines, the sensitized film surface 68 never is allowed to contact any metallic or other hard surface which may mar or scratch the film. The turning vane 62 directs the film to the nip of the cooperating pair of rollers l2, 14 which serve to drive the film upwardly at constant speed to otherroller pairs (not shown) for exit at the top of the rack assembly 10. The positive, increased, rotative speed of the turnaround roller 30 bends the film 28 upwardly to thereby facilitate a 180 bend in a minimum space requirement.

We claim:

1. In a film turnabout system for carrying film through a processing tank wherein the film has a leading edge, an unsensitized surface and a photosensitive surface, the combination of A. a film transport, rack, assembly including a pair of spaced side plates;

B. rear roller means including at least one pair of cooperating driving and driven rollers rotatively journalled within the said plates,

1. said rear roller means leading the film downwardly through the rack assembly,

2. said rear roller means driving and driven rollers rotating at a first speed,

3. said rear roller means driving and driven rollers each being of a first diameter in cross sectional size,

4. said driving roller being fabricated of relatively hard material,

5. said driven rollers being fabricated of soft material, the said photosensitive film surface contacting the driven rollers;

C. bottom turning means receiving thefilm from the rear roller means and turning the film upwardly,

1. said bottom turning means including a large driving roller and a cooperating driven roller in tangential contact to define a film driving nip therebetween,

a. said large driving roller being fabricated of relatively hard material and said driven roller being fabricated of soft material,

b. said large driving roller having a diameter larger than the said first diameter of the rear roller means,

c. the said film being carried downwardly through the processing tank by the rear roller means,

d. the said film turning upwardly through the processing tank by turning about the large driving roller,

2. said bottom turning means including a turnaround roller rotating at a rotative speed greater than the said first speed,

a. said turnaround roller being positioned forwardly of the large driving roller to receive the leading edge of the film to turn the leading edge upwardly,

vb. said turnaround roller being fabricated of relatively soft material and having a central axis,

' 1. the said central axis being positioned lower in the processing tank than the said film driving nip; and

D forward roller means receiving the film from the bottom turning means and directing the film upwardly through the rack assembly,

1. said forward roller means rotating at the said first speed.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the bottom tuming means include a generally horizontally disposed first turning vane positioned rearwardly of the large driving roller, said first turning vane being contacted by the leading edge of the film and being positioned to have no contact with the said photosensitive surface, said first turning vane directing the leading edge of the film to the film driving nip.

3. The invention of claim 2 in a generally vertically disposed second turning vane which is positioned forwardly of the large driving roller, said second turning vane being contacted by the leading edge of the film and being positioned to have no contact with the said photosensitive surface, said second turning vane directing the leading edge of the film upwardly to the forward roller means. 

1. In a film turnabout system for carrying film through a processing tank wherein the film has a leading edge, an unsensitized surface and a photosensitive surface, the combination of A. a film transport, rack assembly including a pair of spaced side plates; B. rear roller means including at least one pair of cooperating driving and driven rollers rotatively journalled within the said plates,
 1. said rear roller means leading the film downwardly through the rack assembly,
 2. said rear roller means driving and driven rollers rotating at a first speed,
 3. said rear roller means driving and driven rollers each being of a first diameter in cross sectional size,
 4. said driving roller being fabricated of relatively hard material,
 5. said driven rollers being fabricated of soft material, the said photosensitive film surface contacting the driven rollers; C. bottom turning means receiving the film from the rear roller means and turning the film upwardly,
 1. said bottom turning means including a large driving roller and a cooperating driven roller in tangential contact to define a film driving nip therebetween, a. said large driving roller being fabricated of relatively hard material and said driven roller being fabricated of soft material, b. said large driving roller having a diameter larger than the said first diameter of the rear roller means, c. the said film being carried downwardly through the processing tank by the rear roller means, d. the said film turning upwardly through the processing tank by turning about the large driving roller,
 2. said bottom turning means including a turnaround roller rotating at a rotative speed greater than the said first speed, a. said turnaround roller being positioned forwardly of the large driving roller to receive the leading edge of the film to turn the leading edge upwardly, b. said turnaround roller being fabricated of relatively soft material and having a central axis,
 1. the said central axis being positioned lower in the processing tank than the said film driving nip; and D aforward roller means receiving the film from the bottom turning means and directing the film upwardly through the rack assembly,
 1. said forward roller means rotating at the said first speed.
 2. said rear roller means driving and driven rollers rotating at a first speed,
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the bottom turning means include a generally horizontally disposed first turning vane positioned rearwardly of the large driving roller, said first turning vane being contacted by the leading edge of the film and being positioned to have no contact with the said photosensitive surface, said first turning vane directing the leading edge of the film to the film driving nip.
 2. said bottom turning means including a turnaround roller rotating at a rotative speed greater than the said first speed, a. said turnaround roller being positioned forwardly of the large driving roller to receive the leading edge of the film to turn the leading edge upwardly, b. said turnaround roller being fabricated of relatively soft material and having a central axis,
 3. The invention of claim 2 in a generally vertically disposed second turning vane which is positioned forwardly of the large driving roller, said second turning vane being contacted by the leading edge of the film and being positioned to have no contact with the said photosensitive surface, said second turning vane directing the leading edge of the film upwardly to the forward roller means.
 3. said rear roller means driving and driven rollers each being of a first diameter in cross sectional size,
 4. said driving roller being fabricated of relatively hard material,
 5. said driven rollers being fabricated of soft material, the said photosensitive film surface contacting the driven rollers; C. bottom turning means receiving the film from the rear roller means and turning the film upwardly, 